Dispatchers

Old cell phones in the wrong hands are causing problems for emergency dispatchers. That's because they can still call 911 even if they don't have service. The service can help people in need, but children playing with old phones are calling 911 and people are also using them to prank dispatch centers. At dispatch centers, normal cellphone calls show up with a number and general location, but on old phones, that valuable information is missing. "We have no idea who the person is, no idea where they are and we do not have a phone number to call back," said Tim Prugh with South Bend Police Department's 911 dispatch center.

SOUTH BEND -- One person was sent to an area hospital after a stabbing in South Bend Thursday morning. Dispatchers say it happened around 4 a.m. in the 500-block of Pennsylvania Avenue. It is unknown at this time what prompted the attack. Dispatchers had no word on the condition of the victim. Stay tuned for updates to this story.  

SOUTH BEND -- South Bend Police dispatchers say a toddler was found wandering around the area of the Potawatomi Zoo Sunday morning. Dispatchers say the child was found around 8:00 a.m. Sunday. The child has been reunited with parents. It is unclear at this time how the child got there alone.  

Each year, 911 dispatchers in our area handle more than a half a million calls. Operators say most are actual emergencies, but that's not always the case. Last year, South Bend's 911 dispatchers received calls from people seeking help for personal disputes, and recipe ideas. One man asked operators to turn his power back on. These non-emergency calls tie up lines for real emergencies. Watch WSBT-TV Reporter John Paul's special report here . And listen to more non-emergency 911 calls here .

Just after midnight Sunday, South Bend police dispatchers received a call from a home in the 300 block of N. Studebaker with a report that a man standing on the porch said he’d been shot while walking down the street. Police responded to the call and transported the man to the hospital, a dispatcher said. A few hours earlier on Saturday night, a man was shot dead at a birthday party at the Courtyard Place Apartments. Police said they do not know if the shootings are related.

SOUTH BEND -- South Bend police dispatchers say a school bus was involved in a minor accident Friday morning, just after 8:30 a.m. The crash happened in the 100-block of North Walnut in South Bend. Police say they do not believe there are any injuries as a result of the crash.

Tuesday morning got off to a messy start as dozens of weather-related accidents were reported across our area, but some good news finally came at the end of the morning commute. The U.S. 20 Bypass from Elm Road to State Road 19 in Elkhart County was shut down for more than two hours because of the very slick conditions. However, it was reopened by 9 a.m. Lt. Travis Adamson of the Elkhart County Sheriff's Department says deputies responded to numerous crashes on the U.S. 20 Bypass.

A person has been injured in a two-vehicle accident in Lakeville. St. Joseph County emergency services dispatchers say crews were dispatched at 10:24 a.m. Sunday to an accident at Michigan and Washington streets. An ambulance was sent to the scene. No other information was available. Check the SBT24/7News page as well as www.wsbt.com, WSBT-TV, South Bend Tribune, southbendtribune.com, wsbtradio.com and WSBT Radio News for your local news.

BERRIEN COUNTY, Mich. - Berrien County dispatchers reported lots of accidents along I-94 Tuesday morning due to the weather conditions. The east and westbound lanes of I-94 at mile marker 34 were closed for awhile. The eastbound lanes of 94 at mile marker 39 at the I-196 exit were also shut down. That's in the Coloma area. Traffic could not get on to I-196 from the eastbound lanes of I-94. The interstate was reopened late in the morning. No injuries have been reported.

NEW ALBANY, Ind. (AP) - A man who called 911 after finding the bodies of a woman and her two children in a southern Indiana creek told dispatchers the woman's body appeared battered. Caller John Weeks says in a 911 recording released this week that 35-year-old Jamie Clutter's body looked "beat up and cut. " Weeks initially told dispatchers March 13 that Clutter's body and those of the two children might be mannequins, but called back moments later to say they appeared to be human bodies.

NEW ALBANY, Ind. (AP) - A man who called 911 after finding the bodies of a woman and her two children in a southern Indiana creek told dispatchers the woman's body appeared battered. Caller John Weeks says in a 911 recording released this week that 35-year-old Jamie Clutter's body looked "beat up and cut. " Weeks initially told dispatchers March 13 that Clutter's body and those of the two children might be mannequins, but called back moments later to say they appeared to be human bodies.

NEW ALBANY, Ind. (AP) - A man who called 911 after finding the bodies of a woman and her two children in a southern Indiana creek told dispatchers the woman's body appeared battered. Caller John Weeks says in a 911 recording released this week that 35-year-old Jamie Clutter's body looked "beat up and cut. " Weeks initially told dispatchers March 13 that Clutter's body and those of the two children might be mannequins, but called back moments later to say they appeared to be human bodies.

BERRIEN COUNTY, Mich. - Berrien County dispatchers reported lots of accidents along I-94 Tuesday morning due to the weather conditions. The east and westbound lanes of I-94 at mile marker 34 were closed for awhile. The eastbound lanes of 94 at mile marker 39 at the I-196 exit were also shut down. That's in the Coloma area. Traffic could not get on to I-196 from the eastbound lanes of I-94. The interstate was reopened late in the morning. No injuries have been reported.

Tuesday morning got off to a messy start as dozens of weather-related accidents were reported across our area, but some good news finally came at the end of the morning commute. The U.S. 20 Bypass from Elm Road to State Road 19 in Elkhart County was shut down for more than two hours because of the very slick conditions. However, it was reopened by 9 a.m. Lt. Travis Adamson of the Elkhart County Sheriff's Department says deputies responded to numerous crashes on the U.S. 20 Bypass.

Police say Medflight has been called to transport a child struck by a vehicle in Middlebury to the hospital. This happened in the 13000 block of County Road 22 just before 2 p.m. Neighbors told a WSBT reporter at the scene two children were walking hand-in-hand down the road on their way to rake leaves. When someone called out to them, the kids reacted by moving in different directions -- one into the path of the vehicle. That child's condition is unknown at this time.

MedFlight was dispatched to an accident on County Road 22 in Elkhart County after a man drover into a tree. This happened in Goshen just before 11 Tuesday night near the Middlebury city limits. Police tell us the man was flown to the hospital in an unconscious state. Stay with WSBT on air and online for updates.

ELKHART COUNTY -- Elkhart County police are on the lookout for two men who reportedly escaped from their work release program early Wednesday morning. Dispatchers tell us the two men, identified as Dontea Bush and George Sanks, were reported missing just before 4 a.m. There are few details at this time, but we are told they were last seen walking towards Lincoln Avenue in Goshen and that they may have been wearing jail-issued clothing. A work release program is for prisoners, who are generally on good behavior and are not violent, to work outside the walls of the jail.

Asking a complete stranger to sing “Jingle Bells,” recite the alphabet or count to 10 might seem silly and strange. But a Mishawaka 911 dispatcher did just that and more for an hour to try and keep a woman alive Wednesday after her boat capsized on Lake Michigan.  The woman, Lilia Barriga of Mishawaka, said she was attempting to kayak 70 miles to Chicago from Harbert Beach near Sawyer, when her kayak overturned.   ...